Treasury

Post Office redress

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: My honourable friend the Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Nigel Huddleston) has today made the following Written Ministerial Statement.As the House knows, the Post Office Horizon IT scandal that began in the late 1990s has had severe impacts on the lives of the postmasters affected. Following the Prime Minister’s announcement on 10 January, the Government has today introduced the Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Bill. The Bill defines a clear set of criteria for those convicted as a result of the Horizon scandal, and individuals in scope will have their conviction quashed. This is to be followed by swift financial redress delivered by the Department for Business and Trade. The Government also announced in January this year that it would offer optional fixed sum payments of £75,000 to postmasters in the Group Litigation Order. Today, the Government has announced that it will extend this policy to the Horizon Shortfall Scheme to ensure equal treatment across the schemes. Those who have already settled their claim below £75,000 will be offered a top-up to bring their total redress to this amount. It is the Government’s priority to take swift action to ensure affected postmasters receive full and fair financial redress with little administrative burden. That is why the Government will ensure that no income tax, capital gains tax, National Insurance Contributions, corporation tax or inheritance tax is payable on compensation to be paid to postmasters whose convictions are overturned by the upcoming legislation or by those who benefit from a £75,000 fixed sum payment on the Horizon Shortfall Scheme. The Government will legislate via secondary legislation to exempt these payments in due course.

Department of Health and Social Care

Correction to Children and Young People Mental Health Early Support Hubs Statement

Lord Markham: This Written Ministerial Statement is made to correct a small error in the previous version, published on 27 February 2024.I wish to inform the House that the government has provided additional funding so that 24 Early Support Hubs across England are able to help children and young people receive quicker mental health support.The government is taking the long-term decisions needed to make our healthcare system faster, simpler and fairer. Mental health support for our young people is a key part of that.We announced in October 2023 that £4.92 million from HM Treasury’s Shared Outcomes Fund would be available to support hubs and an evaluation to build the evidence base underpinning these services.Following evaluation of excellent commercial tenders from hubs across the country, I am very pleased to be able to let you know that the government is now providing an additional £3 million, meaning a total of 24 hubs will receive a share of almost £8 million in 2024/25. This is more than double our original target of funding 10 hubs, and organisations across the length of England – from Gateshead to Truro – will now benefit.This investment in front-line services means that thousands of children and young people will receive earlier, open-access mental health interventions in local communities.Crucially, alongside boosting 24 hubs, the funding will also enable us to evaluate the impact of the services and inform any potential expansion of the model in the future. The evaluation aims to report its findings by Summer 2025.As this new investment shows, we want to intervene earlier to prevent children and young people from developing severe or enduring mental health conditions. That is why we are also continuing at pace with the roll-out of mental health support teams to schools and colleges in England. There are currently around 400 mental health support teams in place across England, covering over 3 million children or around 35% of pupils in schools and colleges, and we are extending coverage to at least 50% of pupils in England by the end of March 2025.I know that we still have a long way to go to ensure that all young people struggling with their mental health get the support they need at the right time but today’s new investment is a positive step to support children and young people’s mental health and one that should be celebrated.Early Support Hubs receiving funding Hub NameConstituency1ABL HealthMansfield, Ben Bradley2Base 25Wolverhampton South West, Stuart Anderson3Brook Young PeopleTruro and Falmouth, Cherilyn Mackrory4Brent, Wandsworth and Westminster MindCities of London and Westminster, Nickie Aiken5Centre 33Cambridge, Daniel Zeichner6ChilyPepBarnsley Central, Dan Jarvis7The Children’s SocietyTorbay, Kevin Foster8The Children’s SocietyGateshead, Ian Mearns9CHUMS CharityMid Bedfordshire, Alistair Strathern10Family ActionHackney South and Shoreditch, Meg Hillier11Isle of Wight Youth TrustIsle of Wight, Bob Seely12Lancashire MindChorley, Lindsay Hoyle13Mancroft Advice Project (MAP)Norwich South, Clive Lewis14Noah's Ark CentreHallifax, Holly Lynch15No Limits SouthSouthampton, Test, Alan Whitehead16OnsideWorcester, Robin Walker17People Potential PossibilitiesUxbridge and South Ruislip, Steve Tuckwell18Sheffield FuturesSheffield Central, Paul Blomfield19Spring NorthBlackburn, Kate Hollern20Warrington Youth Zone LimitedWarrington South, Andy Carter21YMCA St HelensSt Helens South and Whiston, Marie Rimmer22Young DevonNorth Devon, Selaine Saxby23Youth Enquiry ServiceWycombe, Steve Baker24YPASLiverpool, Riverside, Kim Johnson